Heartbroken

I'm am speechless. The pictures I have just seen of Tuscaloosa have left my jaw on the floor and have made me feel physically sick. Praying for our great state and for the victims in this disaster....sorry I just can't think of any more words..

A Few of My Favorite Things

I have had a few people asking me to post pictures of the interior of our new home but I'm not quite there yet. I would love to post pictures of the rooms when we have an "after" shot to go with it. I promise we're working on it but it's taking a while....silly "paying jobs" that require us to go work everyday and not devote our full day to house projects.

Anyway, I have decided to post some of my favorite things about the house. Now, what I'm posting were not criteria for buying a house. We had a list of what we realistically needed/wanted in a house and they were met. The following items were icing on the cake. They are small details that made me fall a little more in love with the house.

First up: Every door has a little lock on it. With each lock there is a skeleton key. I absolutely love skeleton keys. They remind me of watching "The Secret Garden" and hidden treasures. You can even peep through the holes which I think is kind of fun too. :)

Second, there are three screen doors to our house. Since the weather has been so pleasant lately I've had the doors opened each day. I know when it gets warmer this summer we'll need to keep them closed during the day but I'm really enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine.
Next is an old school refrigerator. If you know me well, you know I love antiques/vintage stuff. This fridge is right up my alley. Unfortunately we're not keeping it in the kitchen because 1. we couldn't get it to cool and 2. it's rather small inside. We have installed a new refrigerator but I'm still hoping we can fix this one up and have it as a second fridge in the garage.
The next picture has two favorites in it. The picture has also been put in black and white because the walls look pretty shabby brown. I love that we have a fireplace and the two french doors on either side of it stole my heart. I think they're adorable.
On the other side of the wall (beside each french door) are built-in cabinets and shelves that I cannot wait to decorate. Each cabinet holds a speaker and in one of them there is a turn table and stereo system. Fingers crossed for it to work.
Now, on to a small door that is on the exterior of the house right beside an entrance door to our kitchen. We've been told that this door was used for either the milk man or the ice delivery guy. That may be totally made up, but I'll take it! What else would a little door be used for? (please note that this picture was taken before we bought the home. It has since been cleaned)
Now the next item is kind of silly but it sealed the deal for me. After our realtor showed us the house we chatted in the front yard for a while. As we were talking I noticed a little fury friend spying on us in one yard over. He was eager to run over but was restraining himself. I bent down to show him he could come over and he ran up to me and gave me a lick. I just had to have a house with such a cute and friendly dog neighbor.
He's had a haircut since this picture and I have yet to figure out where he lives. I found out that the yard he was chilling in had a dog tied up so I don't think he lives there. I've named him Rascal. I love that he just hangs out in the neighborhood and greets me when I go outside.

Warning: The next favorite thing about the house is sappy but true. It's that I get to share it with this guy.
After going through the house I could tell that Cory was totally in love with the house (even more than me). To see him so excited about fixing it up and calling it ours was so attractive to me, how could I not want it?

Sorry for the cheesy post. I promise I'll post inside pictures....sometime. :)

Here She Is!!!

I don't really know why I have assigned a gender to our house, but apparently it's a girl. Anyway, here "she" is:

My best bud, Ruth Ann (who is a great photographer...check her out) took these pictures. She met Cory & I after we closed on the house and got some shots of us using our new keys.
We're home :)

Exciting News!!

Cory and I are now homeowners! We've been going through buying this house process for a while now and it's been hard not to talk about it with folks. That's one reason I've been missing from the blog world lately. I didn't want to mention the house we were making offers on until we actually had the keys in our hands.

We are so super pumped about owning a house of our own. It's a cute little gray house and it has it's faults and warts, but we love it. It's a great starter home for us and it has some work to be done, which is one of the reasons we love it...you know how I (we) love a project ;)

The house was built in 1941 and had the same owners until last June when the 99 year old lady that lived there past away. The couple that built and owned the house was a lawyer and a homemaker who hosted fun gatherings. I think it is so neat that Cory & I are a modern day version of them. Instead of me being a homemaker (which would be cool) I teach kids basically the skills of one...maybe it's a stretch? Anyway, I've enjoyed learning about the past owners and the history of the house in the last few weeks. They kept the house in good condition, but it's somewhat outdated. Tonight as we were cleaning things out we kept finding small remnants of their lives. We found old recipes, keys, nice watches, and postcards that make me love the house even more. We also found a box with the blueprint of the house and a detailed sketch from the architect that is really neat. I can't wait to post pictures! I accidently left my camera at the house tonight. Speaking of pictures, this blog may turn into "house posting central" soon because I love before and after pictures.

Thanks for letting me ramble. I must go to bed now because I have some house work to do tomorrow.

P.S. Some other exciting news that we've had in our family is that Cory & I are going to have a nephew in the fall. Laura & Benjamin are expecting and we couldn't be happier for their family. :)

Home Sweet Home

My posts have been pretty sparse the past few weeks. I have a few recipes that I've been meaning to blog about but they keep moving to the bottom of my "to-do" list. Today I'm just going to write about my thoughts/feelings lately.

Cory and I have been back home (together-since he moved a little earlier) for 3 months now and we couldn't be happier. I absolutely love living back in the Shoals. I've always had fond thoughts of the Shoals area and never intended on leaving until Cory decided to go to law school. I don't regret living in Tuscaloosa. I actually ended up liking it and do miss aspects of it and people from there but it was never "home" to us. Living there for 4 years (I moved before law school started and a few months after it ended) made me really appreciate my home town more. I guess the saying is true: "You've gotta get away, to want to come back home again."

I'm so glad that we're home again. I am constantly telling Cory, "Isn't it nice being here because...(insert some good thing). I love that I get to see my parents and mother-in-law on a weekly basis and get to have them over for dinner. I also enjoy seeing my grandparents at least once a week. I love that when my sister comes home or my other relatives come in town that I'll more than likely be here. I enjoy going to my home church and seeing people that I've grown up with. I love that I can see my best bud and not be hurried because I have to make it to all my relatives' houses before I head back to Tuscaloosa. I have also really liked catching up with old pals from high school and college. Just this week I had two dinner dates with some girlfriends and had a blast and I'm getting to meet up with another friend next week. I love it! I'm trying to soak up these times before everyone (including me) starts expanding their families because it's harder to shuffle things around to get together. Cory and I also REALLY like saving time and gas on the weekend not having to drive back and forth to Tuscaloosa. I love that after church we can go to our own place and just relax or enjoy going places and not having to rush back to Tuscaloosa. Sorry to ramble on and on but I really am happy to be back. Now, there is a list of some people that I would love to move here that would make me happier, but I'll settle with talking with them on the phone or seeing them on facebook.

If you've read to this point I hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for letting me ramble. :)